


A State of Panic

by ThirstyForEvans (Bibliophilic_Wit)



Series: Project: Prompted Chris/Reader [4]
Category: Real Person Fiction
Genre: Awkward Encounters with Exes, Chris Evans' POV, F/M, No use of y/n, Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 01:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18326141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibliophilic_Wit/pseuds/ThirstyForEvans
Summary: Chris Evans can't help but notice the woman in the diner who recognised him and didn't freak out, so when he's trying to determine her life story and her ex walks in with a barely-legal replicate of you, he doesn't really think it through before he's your pretend-fiance.





	A State of Panic

**Author's Note:**

> I just had this idea and I wanted to challenge myself to write it in Chris' POV, so bear with me and do comment below if you have any criticisms, concerns or prompts for me, I'd love to hear it!

“Shit, shit, shit,  _ shit _ .” She said under her breath, clearly panicking as she cast furtive glances he could recognise as looking for an escape route.

Chris had been subtly throwing quick glances her way ever since she had done the signature double take when she looked him dead in the eye. Clearly a fan, and he could see her face brighten in excitement, but she only gave him a broad smile and returned to her seat with an adorable giggle. 

Afterwards, he realised he hadn’t even smiled at her- too caught up in his own head over a fan spotting him. Not that he didn’t love his fans, but since  _ Endgame  _ would be out soon, he seemed to be especially sought-after on the gossip rags and so far it seemed like they couldn’t report on anything but his choice of interviewees at DC.

Chris knew he should probably just leave it, he was just here for a quick snack at this small cafe and  _ she wasn’t even disappointed at his lack of charisma or trying to stealthily take a picture of him _ \- there would clearly be no repercussions if he just asked for his burger to go and turned tail. Instead, he had thanked Jamil behind the counter, pulled his cap a little lower and chose the far end where he could see her easily. 

She seemed slightly oblivious to the word, her mind elsewhere as she stared out of the big windows and into the pouring rain, pausing intermittently between her bites of grilled cheese or spoonfuls of soup to jot down notes in her notebook that was laid out in easy reach. Eventually, Chris reclined into his chair, going on his phone and setting out what he intended to do in the first place, first sending a few emails and then checking twitter before sending a text to his father as he bit into the burger and leisurely munched on his fries. 

By the time he had dragged his eyes from the phone again, he took enough time to order a refill for his tea and noticed that she had finished her food and that the notebook now sat front-and-centre while she took small sips of from her new cup of whatever hot beverage she was having.  He finally got both hands on his burger and bit into it with gusto, nodding in thanks as his tea arrived. 

She seemed to be concentrating awfully hard, writing page-after-page in what seemed like a non-stop pace. When she brushed her hair out of her face again, he absentmindedly noticed that it seemed shiny and soft and would probably smell amazing  _ but where did that thought come from? _ He blinked lazily and watched her, having not much of anything else to do, he excused himself as he ran his eyes over her form and tried to piece together a story. 

He was always crap at this exercise, Scarlett had often challenged him to the activity, but it was still something he enjoyed. So, really, he was  _ bound _ to see her shoulders stiffen slightly, her eyes that had quickly glanced up seemingly fixated on a blurry figure on the opposite side of the street before she ducked down further. Her hair spilled over her cheek and she hunched over seemingly pausing for a second and Chris frowned at her behaviour.

Now she was panicking, “Shit, shit, shit,  _ shit _ ,” he saw more than heard and he narrowed his eyes in curiosity as she seemed to try and take furtive glances at the figure as she dragged her backpack closer to her feet. After dragging it close enough, her ankle now tangled in the strap, she yanked it open and stuffed her notebook and pen inside before standing up. A loud, drawn-out scraping sound echoed through the cafe and Chris winced slightly before she stopped abruptly and tilted the chair so she could get out. 

She swung the bag over one shoulder, and went to pay, dropping her phone in her haste and quickly picking it up again in quick succession. Chris belatedly thought that  _ she was not nearly dressed for the rain _ as she headed out, her hand on the door to pull as a man came up to the curb. She paused once again, and he saw her jaw clench before she glanced around. The owner of the shop now once again in the kitchen, and no other exit left, she took a step back from the door. 

“Dammit,” she breathed and closed her eyes with a resigned frown he couldn’t help but sympathise easily with.  _ She’s not scared,  _ not that he can tell anyway, _ maybe anxious _ or… and then the door opens and a smile graces her face. Chris can’t help but compare it to the one she gave him, as he licks the sauce from his thumb. There’s no reason why he should, so he doesn’t ignore their conversation, only scooting slightly closer to his walls in an attempt to be less conspicuous as the guy greets her. 

“Sam. Hi.” She says in a familiar-sounding forced tone that Chris can read right through as the same one he uses for long press days. The door opens again, only for a woman to appear, looking barely-legal and folding herself into the guy’s side with an obnoxious giggle as she brings the shining diamond ring to attention with no grace.

“Hey, babe.” Sam kisses the new girl in greeting. They kiss for a while too long as Chris’ woman eyes the doorway they are now completely blocking. 

“I’ve heard so much about you!” The girl giggles as she turns to the other woman. He can see her smile slightly wider, her grip tightening on her bag before she responds.

“Hi Carly,” She says and Carly giggles again. “Anyway,” she continues, “I was just leaving.”

“Nonsense.” Sam proclaims, “You don’t work today.” His woman sighs regretfully, wetting her lips and clearly searching for an excuse. Chris may not be great at deduction, but even he can piece together that the two women could be sisters if their body language wasn’t so guarded, and the guy wasn’t so obviously her ex. Of course, that isn’t enough, people who would get engaged to their sister's ex exist, but Chris’ woman isn’t angry, just uncomfortable and the other guy isn’t looking guilty, but rather prideful as he insists that Chris’ woman,  _ and when the hell did that happen, _ must have tea with them and catch up. 

She seems at a loss of words as the couple divests themselves of their overcoats with expectant faces. Chris is up before he’s really registering what he’s doing and the amount of people that would berate him for putting himself in such a situation is too numerous to think about, so he leaves a generous tip along with his payment and the receipt next to the counter before pinging the small bell. 

When his woman smiles  _ that smile _ at him again, he responds, completely caught up in her mannerisms and soft expressions to do much of anything else. She makes to clear a path for him, but he insistently locks eyes with her as he moves toward her, smiling, “Hey, babe, I’m all done- you ready to head out?” Her eyes are almost comically large as she looks at him in surprise, not confusion or shock because it’s clear what he’s attempting to do. 

“Yeah, I’m good to go.” She smiles, as her shoulders relax slightly and her smile widens to a smirk. He raises his eyebrows expectantly looking past her to see the couple looking confused, and then look back to her as he lifts his overcoat from his arm to offer it to her as she introduces them.

“Sam, Carly... this is my... boyfriend, Chris.” She smiles at the couple as Chris opens up his coat for her, slightly pride welling up at her casual demeanour.

“C’mon, now, babe. We’ve been engaged for three months you gotta start getting used to it.” He insists with a small smile and a squeeze to her shoulder as she actually blushes before quickly shrugging on the too-big coat as he takes her bag from her and slings it over his shoulder before curling an arm around her shoulders and actually looking at the couple.

“Pleased to meet you both,” Chris says with a slightly dry tone, shifting so she can perfectly curl into his side, smiling reassuringly as she glances up at him before sliding her arm under his light jacket. 

“Where’s your ring?” Sam blurts out, and Chris smiles wider.

“She keeps getting it caught when she’s writing. I keep telling her she can wear it on her right hand but-”

“-that defeats the purpose of an engagement ring, love.” She cuts in and he chuckles, shaking his head fondly,

“Anyway, we have a date with a florist to keep, so we really must be going.”

“You are  _ so lucky _ ,” Carly says starry-eyed, apparently over the shock of realising he’s a celebrity.

“Aww, thanks, Carly.” She says next to him and he smiles softly at her before taking Carly’s hand in his other and kissing it.

“A pleasure.” He murmurs and draws his woman closer to him, eyes only for her as he smiles fondly. She gazes back at him and sighs as Sam prattles on about  _ look at that, a small kiss on the hand there _ , that Chris barely hears as the other couple finally step aside. He leads her through the door, his hand naturally dropping to the small of her back as he opens the door and not stopping as she glances around reflexively in the slight downpour. She tugs him a block away and through an alley before he can protest, opening a  _ Staff Only  _ signed door without missing a beat. 

“Don’t stress.” She breathes, tugging off his coat, “I know the owners.” A sly smile appearing on her face as she shakes out the coat through the open door, under the slight canopy. He takes a glance at the place, it’s beautiful with carved arches and dark mahogany accents on the deep plum walls that are lightened with curved wall lights, the sounds of a restaurant are confirmed as he spots the door labelled  _ Kitchen _ . As he glances around, she hangs up his coat on a hook by the door and opens the chest of drawers to procure two towels. She hands him one, quickly rubbing her face dry with her own before toeing off her boots.

“Thanks.” He says and proceeds to dry his hair and face quickly as well as the back of his neck. 

She smiles softly at him before seemingly remembering herself and shaking her head slightly, pulling her hair back from her face and hanging up her towel next to his coat.

The clang and bustle of the kitchen seems to suddenly intensify as some yelling enters the fray and someone opens up the door, a smokey smell filling that small entrance and Chris watches, surprised at the turn of events as she quickly yanks and props open the outside door before taking his hand, “This way,” and hastening him up some stairs around and up to an alcove near the roof, a big arched window pane in place that looks down at the wet street below. A small, slightly dusty table is present, and she drags it closer before unravelling a tablecloth from the stack of chairs and lifting it over the table with practised ease. She takes a chair and puts it down, heaving a sigh and Chris turns his attention to her once more. 

“Sorry about that figured you didn’t need more crazed fan-interactions today.” She said, slightly out of breath. “Thanks a lot, though...for y’know” she points a thumb over her shoulder indicatively. “Helping me out back there, it was really nice of you. Would you like a drink to warm you up, there isn’t really heating back here.” She asks, walking over to the small tray of alcohol, “You should probably just stay for a while, just until nobody will notice you leaving- I mean, you can stay as long as you want, really, but I mean you probably have, like, places to be and I’ll just go check up on everyone downstairs.”

Chris smiled at her slightly rambling state, before walking over to her and placing a firm hand on her shoulder, feeling her breath catch slightly as she looked at him. “A scotch would be great. Neat, please. Why don’t you join me instead?” He asked, and she could hardly say no so she just nodded and went about making up two glasses of neat scotch, doubles, as he lifted another chair from the stack and placed it right next to his. Setting down the glasses first, she unzipped her light jacket before settling on the chair and looking out at the world with a sigh.

“Thanks again, for everything back there. I should probably be better at handling Sam, we run into each other an awful lot, but…” she trailed off, looking unsure and he smiled sympathetically, placing a reassuring hand on her knee.

“I should probably be better at getting recognised, you were so nice and I didn’t even smile at you because I was so scared of the what ifs.” He revealed, before taking a long drink. She mimicked him and waved off his statement.

“It’s not a problem, I was mostly focused on not squealing or doing something just as embarrassing, but I guess while you are here and not running away from me; your performance in Puncture was just sensational, and of course Gifted is awesome.”

“Thanks, that’s very sweet of you.” He said with an honest smile, and thus began hours of conversation followed by a sweet dinner and a discreet uber along with an open invitation to the alcove as he said goodbye.


End file.
